YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND DELINQUENCY: RECONSIDERING A PROBLEMATIC RELATIONSHIP*

Abstract

Employment is often thought to discourage participation in crime, but self‐report data from juveniles consistently disclose a positive correlation between employment and delinquency. This analysis tests three possible explanations for that correlation. The first is that differences in levels of delinquency between workers and nonworkers exist prior to employment. The second holds that working increases independence from parents, thereby reducing the controlling effect of parental influence. The third explanation, drawing on Sutherland's theory of differential association, is that employment increases delinquent behavior by exposing adolescents to a wider network of peers, including delinquent peers. Analysis of data from waves 1, 2, and 3 of the National Youth Survey reveals a positive association between employment and some forms of delinquency, especially alcohol and drug use. Selection bias explains much, but not all, of the association. Although no support is found for the parental influence explanation, the remaining employment effect is explained by exposure to delinquent peers.